McCullum 'worried' about 'beleaguered' Taylor

Wellington, Dec. 9 (ANI): New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum has expressed empathy for teammate Ross Taylor after he was stripped of his captaincy role.

McCullum, reportedly looked upset and angry as he attended a press conference about the circumstances that had led to Taylor to lose captaincy in all three forms of the game, and said he was worried for him.

"I'm worried for Ross and how he is dealing with things at the moment and how we try and ensure we pull together this team in a short space of time, for what is going to be an incredibly tough tour [to] South Africa," stuff.co.nz quoted McCullum, as saying.

"My own individual accolade picking up the captaincy is certainly not the focus. I guess I'm more concerned right now with how the team is handling this situation and where we go from here, how we try and galvanise the unit," he added.

McCullum said he was hopeful of working with Taylor and in the team and thought they could work something out.

"I thought we could have worked really well together. Ultimately now I've now got a job to do and help this team achieve more wins. That's where my focus is, rather than trumpeting the fact I'm test captain," McCullum said.

He said it had been an "incredibly difficult week for everyone involved" but in running with the theme of the day, he didn't want the focus to be on him, the report said.

"I don't want to sit here and say how hard it's been on me because it's been a lot harder on other people, but as long as you know your dealings are honest and you maintain your integrity throughout then you can look yourself in the eye and know you're doing the right thing," he added. (ANI)

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